The panel recommended that a novel by South African Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer, "July's People," be dropped from the curriculum. It suggested similar treatment for several Shakespeare plays. The pronouncements provoked a huge outcry, with more than 100 writers calling for a "diversity of literary works." None of the blacklisted books will be removed, but the department will encourage a rotation of books in schools, the education minister for the province said.

Spending more on education doesn't mean students learn more, says a new study by the American Legislative Executive Council, a bipartisan, individual-membership organization of state legislators. While expenditures per pupil have grown nationwide by 22.8 percent over two decades, standardized test scores have remained relatively stagnant, the study found.